I'm going on a 10-day vacation overseas at the end of this month. Given how infrequently I do big vacations (a personal issue I'm working to overcome), I have zero tolerance for surprises when it comes to my accommodations. I simply look for large and established four- or five-star hotels that have been around for a while and have numerous positive reviews across several web sites. Another hack I do is to use the "!mill" directive in DDG to filter out corpspeak and SEO-type stuff. I try to book directly with the hotels whenever possible -- although sometimes language and cultural barriers make that prohibitively tricky. I once spent half an hour trying to book something on a Japanese-language hotel web site (making generous use of page source and Google translate) before giving up and going through Booking.com, since there are apparently things about Japanese hospitality culture that I'm not clued in to.
In the end, I probably pay something like 50% more for my accommodations than I could if I were to take chances with AirBNB. But for me, the insecurity and potential for high-stress situations once I arrive in a foreign country just aren't worth it.
See, what you're experiencing is the transition to what we call traditionally, middle-age, I'm certain. And this isn't necessarily based on age, as much as mindset.
There was a time, in my 20's, that I would drive out somewhere and 'just figure it out' once I got there. Even for work functions or conferences.
Then AirBnB became a thing, and I was even more caution to the wind, because I can book ahead of time, but it's still a surprise, sort of! Best of both worlds!
Now, though, not that far out of my 20's, I'm with you. I'll pay a premium to know that I'm getting something that is agreed to by both parties, with no surprises.
yeah...I'm 36, married, 2 young kids..taking the family for a vacation over Christmas. This article basically convinced me to book a hotel instead of an AirBNB.
I have not had a bad experience w/ AirBnB when it was just my wife and I travelling, but I can't subject my kids to sleeping overnight in a dump - or supporting a company that does not actively address these issues.
One thing with Japanese hotels is they have a thing about the ratio of people:beds. We traveled to Tokyo a few years ago with our two pre-teen sons and it was very difficult to find a hotel that would fit us into one room.
In the end, I probably pay something like 50% more for my accommodations than I could if I were to take chances with AirBNB. But for me, the insecurity and potential for high-stress situations once I arrive in a foreign country just aren't worth it.